Edirol R-09HR Review

First Impressions

The Edirol R-09HR is palm-sized. It feels firm in the hand. The rubberized finish on the back and sides is pleasant, but the ultra-shiny faceplate tends to show fingerprints and smudges.

Like its predecessor, the R-09HR looks vaguely like an electric shaver.

The R-09HR OLED screen is twice as big as the screen on its predecessor, the R-09. However, dense layout in recording mode detracts from its legibility.

The buttons are small, firm to the touch and logically laid out.

In the Box

The Edirol R-09HR comes with:

a wireless remote control(!)

a CD-Rom with Cakewalk Pyro Audio LE software

a 512 mb secure digital media card

a stand

a USB cable

a Practical Guide

an AC adapter and

an Owner's Manual

This is a nice assortment of included accessories. The wireless remote performed well in our test at distances up to 25 feet. It might do well at even longer distances, but the largest dimension in our test space was 25 feet.

The remote can be used for all the main operations required for recording and playback, such as input level control, volume control, rewinding, fast forwarding, recording, playing, stopping and splitting. Very handy.

Ease of Use

The Edirol R-09HR is very easy to use. Turn it on by holding down the POWER button for a few seconds. Press the REC button once to go into REC PAUSE mode. Set recording levels with the '+' or '-' INPUT LEVEL buttons on the left side of the unit. Press the REC button again to record.

Press the STOP button once to stop. Press the PLAY/PAUSE/ENTER button to playback your recording. Easy.

Press the SPLIT button to create a new file while recording.

Press the SPEED button to change the playback speed (50-150%) of your recording. This could be convenient for transcribing purposes, but the sound quality was weak when we tried it.

The REVERB effects are fun, but they are only available on playback.

You'll have to play with the R-09HR menu choices to create your preferred settings. Anyone comfortable with a file/menu interface on a computer will not have a problem with this.

New Features/Changes

The most notable changes from the R-09 to the R-09HR are:

a bigger, more legible screen

a speaker monitor

an included wireless remote and

sampling rates up to 96kHz

Thankfully, the battery compartment door is simpler too. You don't need printed instructions to open it. Access to the USB port and SD media card slot is also simpler and distinct from the battery compartment.

We also note that R-09HR is made in China and has only analog outputs, whereas the R-09 was made in Japan and had a digital output.

Storage and Connectivity

The Edirol R-09HR accepts high capacity secure digital media cards (SDHC). No maximum capacity has been specified by Edirol, but the largest card they've tested to date is 16GB.

The R-09HR has an internal stereo microphone, a USB 2.0 port, and 1/8" stereo jacks for LINE IN, MIC IN (with plug-in power), and LINE OUT/Headphone.

Battery Life

Good. During our battery life test, the R-09HR lasted 5.3 hours while recording mp3s on a pair of alkaline batteries.

Sound Quality/Microphones

Good. To our ears, the R-09HR sounds more neutral and "laid back" than the R-09. We also think that the R-09HR has a more "laid back" presentation than the other recorders in its class. Of course, this is a matter of personal taste. Compare our R-09HR samples to the others and decide for yourself.

Conclusion

The Edirol R09HR is a good, easy-to-use, general purpose recorder that comes with a wireless remote. It is nice upgrade from the R-09 and a welcome addition to our portable recorder offerings.